Am I progressing well for a year and a half of guitar?

am I progressing well? by no means am I bragging, I keep a journal of everything I've learned/can do, and I've decided to post it here. I feel like I'm somewhat lackluster, and that the majority of the people in my time frame are better, I'm not sure why I just feel rather lackluster and that I could be so much better.

Wrote 8 original songs, each over 3 minutes long (5 are acoustic things, the other 2 are thrash, and 1 is death metal/groove metal)Learned the majority of canon rock (minus the sweeping, everything else I can pretty much do)Able to do 3 string sweeps up and down (getting close to getting 5 down)can tap fairly well, as well as incorporate taps into riffsknow my fair share of scalescan alternate pick at a steady speedcan tremolo pick fast and clean (i do not, for the life of me, understand why i can tremolo with such precision, ease and lack of muscles tightening up yet i alt pick so slow)can do 3 note legato's up and down the neck very fastI can play...

The intro solo to Fade to BlackThe solo to She-Wolf by MegadethThe majority of master of puppets (minus the second solo)All of Seek and Destroy, Sanitarium, Hit The Lights, Whiplash (all by metallica, again minus the solos..)About half of the solo in Hotel CaliforniaCoil by OpethRaining Blood by SlayerPeople of the Lie by Kreator (minus the solo)Stairway to Heaven (some parts of the solo)Transylvanian Hunger by darkthroneDust in the Wind by KansasI cum blood by cannibal corpseBible Basher, When Satan Rules His World, by DeicideRape Camp by Lord GoreLow Life by Jungle RotThe Day The Dead Walked by Six Feet UnderRandom riffs from cannibal corpse - hammer smashed faceThe intro riff to a "Study of love and metaphors" by Enslavement of BeautyYouth Gone Wild by Skid Row (minus the solo, can't remember if it has one but if it does I can't play it)In My Darkest Hour, Symphony of Destruction, Holy Wars...the punishment due (all by megadeth) minus solos.

I think it depends on whether you are self-taught or have an instructor/teacher ...I don't see any music theory or partiture reading stuff in your journal so I'll guess you learned guitar by yourself.If that's the case, I'd say you are doing good, but could do much better with an instructor.

considering you've written 8 songs already i'd say yes, but i haven't seen you play. you should learn the second solo of MoP man. It's really alot easier than it sounds. In fact, the same goes with most 'tallica solos.

A good way to monitor how you;re progressing is recording yourself playing guitar every few months and listening back to the recordings like a time line. I've been doing that just recently and noticing a difference slowely between recordings which is good i guess, considering I've been playing for 8 years now

Honestly i think everyone should stfu. If the kid is passionate about his playing, i don't care what he can play, or what any of you consider to be easy. Everyone progresses at different rates, but the main point is that as long he enjoys playing, that's what matters. So if you came here to dis on the kid, then lay off.

Lol. If that was aimed at all at me, then =\

I agree with the people trying to make what he has accomplished seem like nothing.

I don't know how truthful things in this thread are but in the end it doesn't matter. Maybe at 15 you will be cool for being able to play fast, but in the real world no one really cares.

If you write music you like, and enjoy doing what you're doing, that's all that matters. Guitar isn't a competition.

i started out saying i felt i was lackluster, why would I lie? what do I have to benefit, the approval of some random guitar players in other states? i simply asked if i was progressing well. Raining Blood isn't too difficult for me either. I enjoy what I do and I keep at it till I get it right, so if you think I'm lying, **** you.

i started out saying i felt i was lackluster, why would I lie? what do I have to benefit, the approval of some random guitar players in other states? i simply asked if i was progressing well. Raining Blood isn't too difficult for me either. I enjoy what I do and I keep at it till I get it right, so if you think I'm lying, **** you.

I'm not a "kid" either, I'm almost 18 >.>

I didn't say you were lying, but alot of people sound like they are trying to make what you know seem like it is easy. And the 15 year old comment was just pointing out in the end speed doesn't matter, no one really cares, so those people should stop trying to make themselves sound like gods.

In the end if you are happy with playing then there is no point ocmparing yourself. You won't get anywhere in music if you spend your time comparing to others, just be happy with what you are doing.

ok just my two cents worth, if you can play all those songs, you are probably a great guitarist, but if you can play that well, why bother asking people? I mean, I've played for two years, but i don't constantly compare myself against other people. By now (if what you are saying is true), you should feel like you have gotten to a stage where you could perform for people and not have them say, 'he must have been playing for such and such amount of time', it should be as though you have reached a level where how long you have been playing isn't an issue, because you could match it with an experienced guitarist. at least thats how i feel. The songs you listed, some people who have been playing for years couldn't play them, so you definately way above the average, like immensely. But I know a guy who can play heaps of songs, but he has no rythmn or timing and it sounds crap. If you can play those songs and they sound good, thats the ideal thing. So keep it going, sounds like you have the right idea, and like the other guy said, is isn't a competition.

Originally Posted by Kill FactoryIf you want to play some emo music, I recommend using these settings:

yeah i mean i can play them on time with the songs i just constantly compare myself to others because I never feel good about my skills, for some reason I feel I could be so much better. I'm sure I could perform for people if they didn't ever wanna see a solo ! Lol

Yeah, but comparing yourself to others won't make you feel any better about them. What does it mean if you are good compared to other people. In music, you need to be what you want ot be, ignore what anyone else is, where they are, whatever.

If you're not happy with your skills then just stay persistent and keep practicing. It's a bad mind set if you look at others and think, oh, well I'm better than them so I must be good. It's also a bad mindset to think vice versa.

You just need yourself to be happy with what you are doing and where you are. For me, I'm not the best composer in the world, but I will just keep on composing and developing my skills and hopefully I will one day be content with where I am at. I still enjoy doing it though and don't feel the need to compare with others. I do what I wanna do.

Honestly i think everyone should stfu. If the kid is passionate about his playing, i don't care what he can play, or what any of you consider to be easy. Everyone progresses at different rates, but the main point is that as long he enjoys playing, that's what matters. So if you came here to dis on the kid, then lay off.

That list means very little without some indication of how well you can play them. After 6 months I could play the sweet child of mine solo. Pretty badly though. See what I'm gettin at. I know scarified, but I can't play it at full speed (goal for next year).